


Priceless

by swiftishere



Series: MSA AU Bin [8]
Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: A Notable Lack of Heisting, Gen, Heist AU, Rescue, Thief AU, Tranquilizers, Very Benign Kidnapping, vithur if you squint but not intended by the author lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:49:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27014569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swiftishere/pseuds/swiftishere
Summary: Vivi, the wanted but uncatchable thief known as the Snow Fox, has had an on-and-off rivalry for a while with another thief known as the Spider. The two frequently show up to the same places, after the same things, and have a wordless competition to see who'll get to the prize first.One night, the pair get caught in a pinch, and she ends up making an unwise snap decision to help her rival.
Relationships: Arthur & Vivi (Mystery Skulls Animated)
Series: MSA AU Bin [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1942603
Comments: 6
Kudos: 57





	Priceless

**Author's Note:**

> idk anything about how tranq darts work and i refuse to learn

"Ah, crap," he said, and they both stared at the dart he'd yanked out of his leg.

"W-well-" and he looked back up at Vivi, who followed suit, "th-that was fun while- f-fun while it lasted, right? Uh. Please d-don't shoot me? I'm not gonna rat you out or- or-" he slumped harder against the wall, knees giving out. "Fuck. _Damnit_ ," is the last thing he says before falling limp to the ground. 

Vivi stared for a moment, glanced behind her at the approaching commotion, and made a very quick and probably irresponsible decision. The priceless, heavily guarded jewelry dropped to the dirt, and was quickly replaced in her arms. 

Her rival was light, lighter than she'd been expecting, and she was already practiced enough with booking it out of somewhere with an armful of stolen goods that he wasn't much harder to carry. A chorus of shouting came from behind her as she drew briefly into the view of flashlights and firearms, and then the Snow Fox leapt nimbly up some boxes and disappeared over the rooftops. 

* * *

She'd gotten a good distance away from the house when she heard her new passenger stir with a groan. She flicked her eyes to the rearview mirror to watch him push himself up onto his elbows, rubbing his temples, and glance blearily around the car.

"Oh, k-kidnap a guy while he- while he's down, real nice." He looked down at himself. "Didn't even b-bother tying me up, huh? _Little_ insulted."

"Morning, sleepyhead," she sang, which elicited a nice glare from him. "Oh, and I'm not kidnapping you. I just figured you'd rather _avoid_ getting captured?"

He snorts. Or maybe it's an annoyed huff – it's hard to tell. "Fair. S-so why the assist?" Another look around the car, this one more thorough than the last. "And where- where's th-the loot?"

"Ditched it. Couldn't carry both of you at the same time."

His face shifts from the scowl – before, she'd have called it perpetual – and she gets a look at his genuine confusion. "You j-just _left it_ -? That was th-the- the whole reason we-!"

"I know, but you're way more valuable than some sparkly junk. I saw what you did to that lock." She raised an eyebrow at the mirror. "They market those as unpickable, you know."

He snorted, not looking at her. "If- if th-that's all you want, you wasted your t-time. 'Unpickable' is- is a load of bullshit. Any half decent lockpick could break into that." 

"Yeah, but I don't know any other half decent lockpicks." 

That got a raised eyebrow. "You d-don't?" 

"...I don't know any who are quite as easy to kidnap as you." 

A long huff, and then, "that's fair." He rolled over onto his back, and looked around the rest of the car. "S-so- what... you need me for s-some kinda sp-special job?" 

“I was actually thinking a more...” She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. “Listen, I’m not... _great_ at the, uh, _fiddly bits_ of our job. And you, no offense, don’t seem to be that great at the fast parts. So I figured a partnership would be mutually beneficial. You get us _in_ , I get us _out_.” She tactfully did not add the bit about all the cool thief duos she’d grown up hearing about. 

“Oh. Hu- huh. How... how long we- how long we talking here?” 

“I dunno. Until you backstab me?” It was good to be realistic. 

He actually laughed at that. “Oh, you- you’ll _definitely_ be the one to b-backstab _me_.” 

“What if I promise not to?” 

She almost didn’t catch the muttered “ _bullshit_ ,” which was followed up by, “guess we’d be in for life, th-then.” 

"...is that a yes?" 

"Guess I don't have a ch-choice, huh?" 

"No, you can leave if you're not interested. This is just a proposal." She glanced up at the mirror again. He was staring out the window at the dark scenery flying by, looking more contemplative than annoyed. 

He looks back at her when he hears that, confusion echoing on his face again. And okay, this is probably pretty unusual for a thief, but she's just trying to be honest. And she doesn't want to _force_ him into anything. 

"Guess it couldn't hurt to s-s-see where it goes," he says eventually. "Better th-than being on my own, any- anyway." 


End file.
